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Traditional media still important as Dentsu CEO warns media buyers to ‘get out of their bubble’

Traditional media still has a pivotal role to play in the marketing mix says the local boss of Dentsu Aegis Network, who yesterday also warned media buyers to “get out of their bubble” and properly examine which channels consumers are using.

Simon Ryan and Justine Lally

(L to R) Carat’s Simon Ryan and APT’s Justine Lally. Ryan told the room that media buyers need to “get out of their bubble”.

Simon Ryan, chief executive of Dentsu Aeguis Network Australia and NZ and Carat ANZ, told the Mumbrella Travel Marketing Summit that while media will evolve over the next five years, traditional channels in 2016 remain important.

Addressing a room of travel marketers during a panel discussion, Ryan said: “I would say to media buyers out there who represent your interests that some of them need to get out of their bubble a bit more and actually look at the way consumers consume media.

“Traditional media is actually is still a big part of the way consumers consume and the way they make decisions.”

He added that research shows that 40% of audiences in the travel sector prefer to read newspapers “in the tangible sense” rather than on a device.

“There is still a big case for media consumption in traditional media in the travel sector,” he said.

However, Ryan said the market will evolve and “will probably be all digital in five years”, adding that his business is aiming to be 100% digital by 2o2o. “Currently between 25% and 40% of its total media spend is on digital,” he said.

Furthermore, Ryan predicted 40% of money will be directed into programmatic by 2020.

Elliott:

Elliott: we have to make sure we are not behind the eight ball on programmatic.

Adam Elliott, director network sales at the Seven Network, told the panel discussion that Seven was looking to move into live streaming and subscription services in a bid to track viewer behaviour. That will enable the TV network to get more into the programmatic space: “to make sure we are not behind the eight ball”.

But while acknowledging the need to move into programmatic, Elliott insisted the addition of new channels is “creating greater opportunities” for advertisers and “making television more affordable than it was five or seven years ago”.

He added that travel was one of the few categories where Seven is seeing growth through TV with more brands wanting integration with programs.

“In the last two years the integration with travel companies is probably five times what we saw for the previous two or three years,” he said. “The industry is seeking more of that from us. We have got to come up with fresh formats and we are constantly talking to our CEO and programming directors about trying to develop new content.”

Increasingly, brands want to produce their own content, but he said that was “fraught with danger”.

“It is so expensive and particularly in travel, to do a great job and create the inspiration, you need to spend money,” he said. “There are no short cuts. If we cut corners in anything that we produce the show doesn’t work. You have to got to invest the money.”

Steve Jones 

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